RIP, buddy.

Yesterday I got news that my dear friend Ralph Whelan (known as Will Ralph Whelan on Facebook) had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I am devastated. Those who know me best know that Ralph was many things to me: buddy, confidant, instigator, cheerleader, entertainer, mentor, hero. It is impossible to imagine how different my life would be had I never met him. My friends, my wife, my children, all directly or indirectly due to the changes in my life after meeting and bonding with him while serving together in the Army band, and then hooking up as friends and living together in California after that. No words can possibly say how precious he was to me, how utterly irreplaceable. RIP, buddy. You will be missed.